This is the basic recipe for macarons. Because this was the first time I’ve made them I just made plain ones with no colour or added flavour. They are sweet with a slightly gooey center, a crispy shell with a smooth buttercream in the middle and they taste delicious. I know they don’t look perfect and are a little misshaped but for a first effort and without having a piping bag I think I did pretty well. Store in an airtight container in the fridge.
You can make coloured macarons by using a food colouring paste/gel rather than liquid food colouring if you do that then colour should be added to the egg whites before whisking.
This recipe makes around 10-15 macrons depending how big you make them and heres how you make them.

1. Macarons need a steady, pretty low temperature to cook properly, too high and they easily burn, too low and they don’t cook through. Since the temperature of ovens can vary, these temperatures are a guideline, adjust to suit your oven. Preheat the oven to 140°C fan oven, 160 °C regular oven

2. Sieve the icing sugar, followed by the ground almonds, into a large mixing bowl and carefully mix together.

3. In a separate bowl whisk the egg whites and salt until they form soft peaks.

4. Add the caster sugar a little at a time and continue to whisk until the whites are very thick and glossy (you should be able to hold the bowl upside down without the whites falling out).

5. Gently stir in the icing sugar and almond mix. The mixture will lose some air and become quite loose, don’t worry though

6. Fill a piping bag with the macaron mixture and start to pipe small blobs onto a sheet of greaseproof paper over a baking tray remembering the mixture will settle and spread out a little. (Or do what I did and make a rubbish piping bag from greaseproof paper and try piping it then).

7. Once you have piped all your mixture gently tap the baking sheet a few times on the work surface to help the macaron mixture to settle and to break any air bubbles, then leave to rest for around 15mins and the surface of the macaron should become smooth and shiny

8. Bake the macarons in the preheated oven for around 8 minutes, open the door to release any steam, close the oven door and cook for a further 8ish minutes.

9. Take out of the oven when the macarons are cooked when they feel firm and are slightly raised. Leave to cool don’t try and take them off the greaseproof paper yet!

10. To make the buttercream filling beat the softened butter until it is fluffy, then gradually beat in the icing sugar.

11. Place a small amount of the filling to the flat side of one macaroon and sandwich together with another macaron then twist lightly to create a bond. Do this with the remaining macaroons.

12. Your macarons are now ready to eat but they taste better after being put in the fridge.